The retailer's executive chairman, Shawn Gorman, said in a letter to customers that “increasingly, a small but growing number of customers has been interpreting our guarantee well beyond its original intent.

"Some view it as a lifetime product replacement program, expecting refunds for heavily worn products used over many years. Others seek refunds for products that have been purchased through third parties, such as at yard sales.’’

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All of that stops under the policy change, though Gorman said that if an item bought more than a year ago is found to be defective, the company "will work with our customers to reach a fair solution.''

It's a major change for L.L. Bean, based in Freeport, Maine, which has viewed going extra lengths to stand behind its products as part of its part of its DNA. In 1912, 90 of the company’s first 100 pairs of its signature boot fell apart. Founder Leon Leonwood Bean fixed the defects — and issued refunds establishing a customer service tradition.

Edgar Dworsky. founder of the consumer resource site Consumer World, said in an email that "L.L. Bean's old guarantee was not so much a liberal return policy as it was an assurance to customers of the high quality of their garments."

The one-year limit is "absolutely reasonable and still generous,'' he said, noting how purchases that fall outside that time frame will be dealt with if there is a problem. "We'll have to see how consumers react, but I think most will still consider their new policy very fair.''